Smart triage helps first responders prioritise

Stode is a wearable biosensor with an accompanying app created to support first responders making triage-based decisions in emergency situations such as severe accidents. We have helped Stode design and develop the app, branding, as well as researched the market to make well-informed business development decisions.

Decision-making support in critical situations

In trauma accidents where several injured people are involved, it can be challenging for first responders (paramedics, police force, fire brigade) to quickly assess who needs medical assistance first. The group of physicians in Stode came up with the idea to create an app that could gather and interpret the data from wearable biosensors to help support first responders’ decision making in instances like these. They came to EGGS to help develop the business offering and design the product itself.

Would you like to learn more about digital innovation for health workers? Book a meeting with our Head of Health Sigrun Vik!

The Stode app is designed for first responders, helping them make informed and quick decisions in a triage situation. The app talks to a wearable biosensor which gives information on vital signs such as heart rate variability (HRV), respiration rate and pulse oximetry. With this data, it uses the so-called Triage system to tell the user what state the patient is in.

Exploring the market and user needs

To ensure that we developed the product to best suit potential users and also serve real market needs, we conducted a thorough market analysis, exploring different business opportunities and gathered user insights. By interviewing different potential user groups, such as the Red Cross, police officers, paramedics and firefighters, we could identify their needs and ensure that we developed and designed the product and its branding accordingly.

By testing and prototyping not only the product itself, but the business idea as a whole, we could help Stode make viable and feasible choices for target customers and brand identity. A new name - Stode - (from old Norse staða, meaning state ; situation), was selected and a complete set of branding guidelines was built and delivered to make Stode ready for both national as well as potential international launch.

Visuals that guide the user

For any professional user interface, it’s essential that critical data is visualised in a clear and actionable manner. In the case of Stode, the data supports triage of trauma victims, where an accurate interpretation of vital signs data might mean the difference between life or death. With this in mind, we designed the app’s data display based on the universal triage system, using the same colour coding: green = general (normal), yellow = urgent, orange = emergency, red = acute. The app also clearly displays that status of the tool itself, with a clear confirmation of when the app is successfully connected to the biosensor patch(es), and warns if there is any issue with the data flow.